The Valley Industry Association of Santa Clarita tackled the topic of cybercrime, an invisible but pervasive threat, during Friday’s luncheon at the College of the Canyons University Center with officials from the United States Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Local business owners and dignitaries were present to learn how they can further protect sensitive information from online “threat actors,” a person or group of people that cause harm through computers, systems and networks.
According to LASD Detective Sgt. Peter Hish, a cybercrimes investigations expert, L.A. County is the No. 1 city in the U.S. affected by cyberattacks. His goal during the presentation wasn’t to scare guests, but rather to shed light on the realities of cybercrime and its impact on organizations and small businesses.
“A lot of the cases that we get are local businesses in L.A. County who are either small or mid-sized businesses who have been hacked from one level to the next,” he said, and although businesses take necessary precautions to protect themselves, “hackers realize that we are starting to learn cybersecurity, and a lot of businesses now have backups, so they adjusted their tactics.”
He advised that people invest in cybersecurity insurance to mitigate the issue, expand their knowledge about online threats, update versions of software to avoid vulnerable gaps, and audit individuals on occasion to ensure that they’re protecting vital information.
“What are your most important things that you need to protect in your business? Go down the line and then put them in priority order and start going through those and securing those things.”
Cybersecurity advisor Alith Saengchanh with CISA provided information as to how the government agency aims to assist both private and public organizations to protect them from online cyber threats.
“We’re constantly being attacked. And whether or not we know it, they’re in our network, and part of our job is to detect and defend our networks,” he said. The government agency’s mission is to reduce stakeholder risk, influence operational behaviors, and increase national resilience.
When asked about the biggest natural mistake that leads to compromised information, Saengchanh said, “passwords,” and how people make the common mistake of creating an easy and vulnerable password for hackers to access.
Some services they offer are: vulnerability scanning, web application scanning, federal attack surface testing, validated architecture designs review, and critical product evaluation, among others.
“Cybersecurity isn’t about eliminating risks, it’s about managing it effectively,” said Hish. “We need to ensure our organizations are prepared to adapt, respond and recover.”
